This invention relates generally to fuel cells and more specifically to interconnect supported fuel cell assemblies, preforms and methods of fabrication.
Fuel cells, for example Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC), are electrochemical devices that have many potential applications including large-scale power generation, distributed power and automobiles. One of the key challenges is to develop cost effective processes to manufacture electrode and electrolyte materials, especially with large surface areas.
In the past, anode, cathode or electrolyte supported approaches were used for cell fabrication. It is desirable for each of these components to be thin but the anode, cathode and electrolyte are all typically made of fragile based ceramics. Necessarily, in conventional fuel cells, in order to provide support for cell fabrication, at least one of the components must be thick.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved support approach for fuel cell fabrication.